I finally got another copy (this time with a chapter on the Trinity) of Why I Believe, written by the late D. James Kennedy. My original copy, which I bought more than 20 years ago, is already falling apart. It’s a sad thing since my old copy contains useful sermon outlines and discipleship notes. The new one I got today, doesn’t. As I was rereading the book, I was looking at the chapter on “The Stones Cry Out”. The closing part (page 39) contains a quote saying:
It is not because of any want of historical data that people do not believe the Scriptures or do not believe in Christ. Rather, it is because of a want of a moral disposition to surrender one’s life to the Lordship and authority of Jesus Christ. It is the moral problem that confronts most unbelievers.
Take note that the word “want” here is used in the context of Psalm 23. The word want can mean to desire something. However, in this context, we’re talking about lacking or to cause to be lacking. Even modern English can use want in that context.
I was reading the book while having a KJV stance, but not quarreling any non-KJV Only. Since I was still under the authority of my parents, I couldn’t easily join a church until I had money or resources. However, I wish I run away from home and worked odd jobs, but doing so might not be a good testimony! I was advised to be patient with my unbelieving folks. However, reading the book again at a Reformed or Calvinistic view, I was thinking about the fallen person’s free will. As I was looking at what Kennedy said, I was looking at what Dr. John F. MacArthur said about God giving people free will.
No, God doesn’t give people free will if you take it to mean that they can choose anything they want. I would define free will as this: every human being has the freedom to choose whatever sin he wants. That’s free will. You can choose whatever sin you want to choose, you just can’t choose not to sin.
So yes, there’s free will, but there’s only free will within the framework of depravity and corruption. The one thing you can choose is to get out of there. For that, you have to cry for the mercy and grace of God to extract you, which God does by His own sovereign love and power.
Sinners think they have free will, but the Bible defines sinners as being in bondage to sin. It is a bondage to sin so profound that the only thing they can choose is which sin to commit.
I remember how I used to think of salvation as an intellectual issue. In John 6:69, Peter says that they have believed and come to know, that the Lord Jesus is the Holy One of God. It’s effortless to use those words to say, “See, man has the free will to believe.” Never mind that John 6:44-65 emphasizes that no man can come unto Jesus, except the Father draws them. I was thinking, “Okay, if I get enough evidence, that person will stop unbelieving. I lent my book Why I Believe which contains several facts and figures. However, Kennedy is still considered a clown and a fool by many skeptics today. As Kennedy would say, lacking a moral disposition to surrender to the Lordship of Jesus is a real problem. In the Lordship salvation theology, it’s also submitting to Christ as Lord. Christ must be preached as Lord. As Arthur W. Pink emphasizes, a heart hardened in sin refuses to believe in the Gospel of salvation.
This is a moral disposition man has–the inability to believe the simple Gospel because the fallen heart is hardened by sin. 2 Corinthians 11:3 in the KJV uses the term “simplicity that is in Christ”. The later translations such as the ESV use sincere and pure devotion to Christ. The Greek word for simplicity is haplotes, which means the virtue of one who is free from the pretense of hypocrisy, not self-seeking, and openness of heart manifesting itself by generosity. Salvation has a simple message but it’s hard to believe. The message that salvation isn’t by own effort sounds simple. However, the fallen person is naturally deceived away from that. It’s the problem of pride, and every good work that a person tries to do to win salvation is contaminated by pride. Isaiah 64:6 says our good works are like filthy rags. It’s difficult to believe it and Paul was writing to pagan cities. The simple truth is made complicated by one thing–the lack of moral disposition to want Jesus as Lord.
Many people refuse to get saved or believe the facts. In psychology, it’s called cognitive dissonance. Facts are facts but people only want to believe what’s convenient. Some people would still be stuck to their faulty sources, no matter how faulty these sources are. These sources can range from conspiracy theories to biased sources. One could say, “Tons of research shows…” but the tons of research are from faulty sources. Some judges in the criminal court even ignore the evidence that somebody else did the crime, not the accused. The accused could present evidence that he wasn’t able to do the crime because of this and that. However, the judge can dismiss the evidence. If people can even ignore secular facts, how much more for spiritual facts? I can present all the evidence for Genesis creation, all the evidence for the resurrection of Jesus, all the evidence that homosexuality is a dangerous practice, all the evidence for the Bible’s historical accuracy, and the list can go on, they will still not believe? When the debate is lost, they will hurl insults one after the other. However, the Christian can still have comfort in Matthew 5:11-12 of being blessed when that happens. Speaking the truth if it’s not convenient, has been labeled a hate crime these days.
1 Corinthians 1:18-30 that salvation isn’t an intellectual issue. In Romans 1, we can also read in verse 24 that God gave them up over to the sinful desires of their hearts. The term God gave them up or gave them over means that they’re allowed to be in that state because they want to be in that state. The great preacher Charles H. Spurgeon said the following:
From the Word of God I gather that damnation is all of man, from top to bottom, and salvation is all of grace, from first to last. He that perishes chooses to perish; but he that is saved is saved because God has chosen to save him.
When one looks into that, God has given up certain people to allow them to live in sin, all they please. When I think of the wheat and the tare or the sheep and the goats, the shepherd is looking for sheep, not goats. The wheat is harvested and the tares are thrown away. If we’re to think that the doctrine of unconditional election in TULIP is unfair, Spurgeon also spoke about it in this way:
Some say, “It is unfair for God to choose some and leave others. Now, I will ask you one question: Is there any of you here who wishes to be holy, who wishes to be regenerate, to leave off sin and walk in holiness? “”Yes there is!” says someone “I do!” Then God has elected you. But another says, “No, I dont want to be holy! I don’t want to give up my lusts and my vices. WHy should you grumble then, that God has not elected you? For if you were elected, you would like it, according to your own confession.
That’s what Romans 1:24-32 says. They know the righteous decree of God but they choose the other path. An old gossip can go like, “Well, you remember him? Ever since he got saved, he no longer wants to go with us. It’s like as if he died!” Yes, that person died to self and became alive in Christ. The worst criminal who gets saved wants to be a criminal no more. Salvation’s life-changing effect is really expected. Ephesians 2:10 says that Christians are to be equipped unto good works. Titus 2:11-14 says that God’s grace teaches people to live a life of good works. People can resist grace but with salvation, it’s irresistible grace. After many years of believing in the limited free will to believe, I feel like maybe that’s why I retained a judgmental attitude against my former churchmates in the Jesuit parish. People stay where they are not only because it’s their comfort zone. It’s their comfort zone of any cherished sin. For some, it may be their worship of idols and superstitious beliefs that provide false comfort. For some, staying in that certain parish where adultery is hardly preached in the homilies, is their reason for hating the Gospel. Some people can even get really hostile before they’re preached to. For example, a habitual adulterer can get mad knowing that the pastor in the neighboring church just spoke against adultery.
As Ray Comfort of Living Waters says, you can take the person to evidence but not make them believe. The person’s problem is a moral problem that affects the intellectual problem. The brain and the heart are interconnected. The heart pumps blood throughout the whole body. Blood reaches everywhere within the body. If the heart is not healthy, the brain is also affected. Sin has affected people and any inconvenient truth, even if it’s in front of them, is usually rejected. They will use their free will to believe the pleasant lies they want to believe as truth. It takes God’s supernatural work from within to make them believe.
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